AHS 2023 | Use of EHR-integrate patient headache questionnaire improves diagnostic specificity

Christina Szperka, MD, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia & University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, discusses the effects of using an EHR-integrate patient headache questionnaire on diagnostic specificity. Migraine is underdiagnosed and undertreated. In an effort to improve migraine diagnosis, a headache questionnaire was developed and integrated into the electronic health records (EHR). Patients complete the questionnaire before new visits, and then providers can review the answers or edit the responses. To assess the impact of the headache questionnaire, investigators compared headache diagnoses for new patient visits in neurology, particularly looking at the proportion of patients given specific diagnoses versus non-specific headache diagnoses. Next, they used logistic regression to test for an association between patient and clinical characteristics (age, headache program clinician, use of the questionnaire, year) and the presence of any specific diagnosis. Results showed that the rate of a specific migraine diagnosis improved with the use of the headache questionnaire. The questionnaire is now broadly available in EpicCare for both pediatric and adult populations. This interview took place at the American Headache Society 2023 meeting in Austin, TX.

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